3 replies to this topic

[Hikescdnrckys]

Here is my situation, I am looking to buy a new scope for our public outreach sessions. We have SCTs already so want a dob but it has to have push to or go to to make it easy to use and to move to a different object quickly to prevent lineups at the scope.

 

Goto Dobs 8" or larger are heavy and expensive, so I was looking at an 8" Celestron Starsense Explorer Dob with push to using the Starsense Explorer App on a cellphone. Here is my issue, we usually end up hiring different students every year. If they use their own cellphone for the Starsense Explorer App, we are going to blow through the 5 activation codes in 5 years atleast, less if a student quits or gets a new cellphone.

 

What I was thinking is getting a "burner phone" that has no SIM card but can do wifi, and keeping the phone with the scope on a permanent basis. No monthly cell contract and we only use 1 activation code. The only app on the phone would be the SSE app.

 

Any downside? 

[joseluis.17g]

I don't see any downsides 

 

I'm also sure celestron could email you another code if you ever need one 

 

I'm not sure what you are showing in your outreach events, but when our club does one, it's almost exclusivly SS stuff, moon, saturn and jupiter

and with those objects in mind, Its faster to use a telrad or something like that.

 

[killerkiko]

I keep an old iphone 12 mini just for starsense. I have a dock on my meade 16" lightbridge, it has a cracked screen and Wifi only, and it works great. So i don't foresee any issues with this approach.

[ris242]

I have no sim in my iphone 12. It was my goto till starsense - with skysafari pro) started working with android and then I switched back cause the menus are changeable........and the fonts are readable in red.

 

add skysafari and the whole thing is so much better.